CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Dr. Shailendra Kumar Gupta*

The present article intends to understand the linkages between the

concept of justice and environmental justice. The concept of
environmental justice has been as complex as the concept of justice itself.
In order to provide jurisprudential perspective of environmental justice
the present discussion has been broadly divided into following heads :

1. The Concept of Justice as the Main philosophical Foundation of

the Concept of Environmental Justice.

2. Philosophical and Theoretical Framework of the Environmental

Justice.

3. Relationship between Mainstream Environmental Movement

(Sustainability Movement) and Environmental Justice Movement
(Social Justice Movement in Environment)

4. Historical Perspective of the Environmental Justice Movements

5. Definition and Principles of the Environmental Justice.

6. Bhopal Mass Disaster and Environmental Justice in India.

1. The Concept of Justice As the Main Philosophical Foundation

of the Concept of Environmental Justice :

The concept of environmental justice has been closely linked with

the concept or theories of justice. Any discussion on the concept of
environmental justice, therefore, requires a brief discussion on the
concept of justice.

*
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
 Page 2 of 37

“What is justice?” asked Socrates in Plato’s Republic, and ever

since, this has been one of the leading questions of philosophy and all
social thinking.1 Prof. John Rawls, one of the influential political
philosopher of the twentieth century, has beautifully highlighted the
importance of the concept of justice. He writes :

“Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of

systems of thought. A theory however elegant and economical
must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and
institutions no matter how efficient and well-arranged must be
reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses
an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of
society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies
that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good
shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on
a few are out weighted by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed
by many. Therefore in a just society the liberties of equal
citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by justice are
not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social
interests. The only thing that permits us to acquiesce in an
erroneous theory is the lack of a better one; analogously, an
injustice is tolerable only when it is necessary to avoid an even
greater injustice. Being first virtues of human activities, truth and
justice are uncompromising”.2
The debate relating to the concept of justice has been philosophical
in nature but on the same time it has also been used to solve concrete
problems of different era of history. Highlighting the theoretical and
practical importance of justice Prof. Solomon and Murphy have said :

“On the one hand, the question “What is justice?” is an invitation

to the most abstract sort of philosophical speculation. What is the
good society? What makes a government legitimate? What kind
of creatures does God, or Nature, intend us to be? What is our
essential relationship to our fellow human beings, and what
obligations do we have to one another? Where did these

1
. Solomon, Robert C. and Murphy, Mark C. (Eds.) What Is Justice? Classic and
Contemporary Readings, (New York : Oxford University Press, 2000, Second Edn.)
p. 3.
2
. Rawls, John, A Theory of Justice, (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1972)
pp. 3-4.
 Page 3 of 37

obligations come from? On the other hand, the question of justice

focuses our attention on the concrete problems of our times. A
theory of justice has the extremely difficult task of bridging the
abyss between the abstract and the eminently practical. No theory
of justice can long remain on the luxurious level of philosophical
speculation without diving down into the particularities of social
life but no attempt to solve the problems of daily politics can long
sustain itself without reaching up to the heights of philosophy,
struggling as Socrates struggled to come to grips with the
definition of justice, with its essential nature and justification”.3
The concept of justice has been, indeed, a baffling concept.
Philosophers, political thinkers and jurists do not agree on a single
definition/concept of justice. Realising this difficulty Prof. R.W.M. Dias
has rightly said, “the quest for justice has been as challenging as the quest
for the Holy Grail, and as elusive. To some this is because justice is a
will-o’- the - wisp, to others because it is too vast to be encompassed by
one mind.4 Similarly, Prof. Edgar Bodenheimer, while writing a chapter
entitled ‘The Quest For Justice’, has pointed out ‘versatile’ nature of
justice which ultimately aims for a ‘good society’. He says :

“Justice has a protean face, capable of change, readily assuming

different shapes, and endowed with highly variable features.
When we look deeply into this face, trying to unravel the secrets
hidden behind its outward appearance, bewilderment is apt to
befall us. On the theoretical level of philosophy, many diverse
and discrepant views of ‘true” justice, often claiming absolute
validity, have been set forth by thinkers and jurists in the course
of the centuries. On the pragmatic level of societal orders, many
different approaches have been taken towards solving the
problem of the “good society”.5
Philosophers, political thinkers and jurists have confronted with the
problem of offering a precise definition of the term ‘justice’ on account of
following three difficulties :

3
. Solomon and Murphy, op. cit., pp. 3-4.
4
. Dias, R.W.M., Jurisprudence, (UK : Butterworth, 1987, Fifth Edn.) p. 65.
5
. Bodenheimer, Edgar, Jurisprudence, (Delhi : Universal Book Traders, 1974 Revised
Edn., Second Indian Reprint 1997) p. 196.
 Page 4 of 37

First, the term ‘justice’ is assigned different meanings by different

people at different times and different places. Not only this, its
implications vary from man to man on account on their varying
interpretations.

Second, the idea of justice is a dynamic affair. As such, its

implications change with the passage of time. Thus, what was justice in
the past may be injustice in the present and vice versa; it is also possible
that the justice of today becomes the injustice of tomorrow and vice
versa.

Third, a further difficulty arises in reconciling the abstract notions

of justice with its practical manifestations. For instance, one may talk of
the divine justice or moral justice, but it will not be conformable to any
set of empirical standards and, for this reason, not capable of practical
application.6

Justice connotes different things for different people. The meaning

of justice also depends on our view of society and its various aspects as
also where do we find ourselves in the society. For a man of law, justice
means the judgement pronounced by a judge; for a man of religion,
justice means a set of morals and values; for a poor, justice means
abolition of poverty, for a worker, justice means adequate wages and
better working conditions, for a subaltern, justice means absence of
outrages committed on him; for a feminist, justice would include
abolition of male domination over female and last but not the least for an
environmentalist, justice means prevention and control of pollution,
protection of environment and respect for natural environment etc.

. Johri, J.C., Contemporary Political Theory, (New Delhi : Sterling Publishers Pvt.
6

Ltd., 1979 First Edn., Revised Reprint 1993) p. 338.

 Page 5 of 37

The history of the concept of justice is about two thousand and five
hundred years old. During this long period great saints, philosophers,
thinkers and jurists have propounded various theories in different
disciplines of learning such as philosophy, ethics, religion, politics,
economics and law etc. The concept of environmental justice has linkages
with the various theories of justice. In order to understand these linkages
between justice and environmental justice, hereinafter, an effort has been
made to briefly present various theories or views relating to the concept
of justice.

1.1 Philosophical Theories of Justice

The theories relating to the word ‘justice’ has been different in

different times. First of all, we may take up the philosophical
interpretation finding its place in the ancient scriptures as well as in the
affirmations of the early philosophers. For instance, justice in Indian
ancient tradition has been identified with the concept of ‘Dharma’
(righteousness or righteous way of life). Dr. U.C. Sarkar refers to four
senses in which the term ‘Dharma’ may be used : (1) It means religion in
the category of theology. (2) it means virtue as opposed to vice in the
category of ethics. (3) It means law in the category of jurisprudence. (4) it
means duty in the category of actions.7 According to Hindu jurisprudence,
‘Dharmanaya’, meaning equity and justice, is given precedence over
‘Dharma’ meaning law, whenever there is any conflict between the two.8

With the sophists of ancient Greece, justice mean interest of the

stronger social groups which impose their will on the other groups. As
against this, Plato in Republic, emphasized on the ‘moral and ethical

7
. Sarkar, U.C., Epochs in Hindu Legal History (Hoshiarpur (India), 1948) p. 19,
quoted in Johri, J.C. op. cit. p. 342.
8
. Ibid..
 Page 6 of 37

elevement’ of justice by saying that it means performing one’s duties with

all abilities and capacities towards the social whole. Aristotle highlights
the ‘distributive’ aspects of justice and holds the view that justice means
equal share to the equals and unequal share to the unequals. It may be
pointed out that both Plato and Aristotle propounded the ‘philosophical
conception’ of justice. Subsequently, this philosophical conception of
justice was mixed up with the ‘natural idea’ of justice developed first by
the Stoics and then followed by the Roman lawyers. After that justice
assumed a religious complexion when Christianity became the official
religion of the Roman empire.

1.2 Natural Law Theories of Justice

The natural theory of justice may be understood as an extension of

the philosophical theory, it treated justice as an ideal of absolute value
whereby the right order could be established. What the Stoics meant by
nature was that the ruling principle in the universe was ‘reason’. Their
idea of living ‘in agreement with nature’ was, therefore, fundamentally a
canon of living according to the norm which man ought to realize. This
idea was borrowed by the Roman lawyers who took justice as an ultimate
end. The distinctive contribution of the Roman lawyers, however, lies in
their integration of the idea of ‘natural justice’ with the positive law of the
State with the result that jus civile (civil law) and jus gentium (law of
nations), as they called it, were insisted upon to be in conformity with the
law of nature.

The idea of natural justice was mixed up with the divine sanction
with the advent of Christianity. What the Stoics and Romans meant by
‘nature’ became ‘God’ to the Church Fathers. The result was that religious
canons became handy instruments to distinguish between the justice and
 Page 7 of 37

unjust. St. Augustine linked up the idea of justice with the precepts of the
Christian religion. St Thomas Aquinas ruled that in case the civil law was
contrary to natural law, it was not binding on the ‘conscience of the
ruled’. In this religious context the “nature is not a source of justice which
is distinct from religion and from ethics : it is rather a combination and
fusion of religion and ethics”.9

1.3 The Role of Justice During Reformation and the Renaissance

to the Nineteenth Century10

According to Prof. R.W.M. Dias after the disintegration of Holy

Roman Empire, independent national states emerged in Europe,
individuals wished to free themselves from the church and feudal system
and rising commercial middle class wanted freedom to preserve its trade.
The individuals therefore found that a powerful sovereign was their best
guarantee against interference, and the need was to foster the power of
the sovereign.

Machiavelli advocated that the state and its sovereign have to be

supreme and subject to no external control. Again Thomas Hobbes, in
Leviathan, justified absolute sovereign power by postulating an
imaginary ‘social contract’ between ruler and ruled. In this way natural
law theory had come to support power of the sovereign. Actually Hobbes
lived through the Civil War in England, so his preoccupation was with
stable and secure government. However, subsequently, under the guise of
‘sovereignty of states’, the Europe saw the Thirty Years War. In order to
restraint states’ unbridled pursuit of selfish policies Hugo Grotius,

9
. Barker, Ernest, Principles of Social and Political Theory, (London : Oxford
University Press, 1967) p. 109 quoted in Johri, J.C., op. cit. p. 344.
10
. Discussion under this title has been mainly adopted from Dias, R.W.M., op. cit., pp.
78-85.
 Page 8 of 37

preached a body of duties based on natural law, known later as

‘international law’.

In the municipal sphere, individual, also faced tyranny of sovereign

and it gave rise to the domestic struggle for immunity from the abuse of
the sovereign power. In support of this movement the natural law doctrine
of social contract was refurbished by John Lock who also advocated for
natural right to own property. John Lock championed the revolution of
1688-1689, and idea that positive law might thus be overborne by natural
law sustained the American colonies in their successful defiance of the
British Parliament in the fateful years 1775-1781. Another way of
controlling governmental power was put forward by the French
Philosopher Montesquieu who propounded ‘doctrine of separation of
power’ of the state. In France the continuing need to protect the
individual against an oppressive monarchy found expression in the
Rousseau’s ‘Theory of general will’ in which aforesaid theory of social
contract underwent yet another revision. The idea of general will has
given the birth to the institution of democracy. Rousseau’s theory was
utilized as the philosophy of the French Revolution, 1789.

1.4 Socialist Theories of Justice : Marxist, Anarchist, Democratic

Socialist

If socialism, in its essence, means, as it really is, not a very

favourable attitude towards capitalism, all of them are the socialists : the
anarchists, for example condemn capitalism as a charter of economic
exploitation; the Marxists provide a severe critique of capitalist mode of
production; the democratic socialists see, in capitalism, the worst form of
moral degradation. If socialism is the political philosophy of the working
class or a doctrine that claims to fight for the cause of the workers, then
 Page 9 of 37

all of them-the anarchists, the Marxists and the democratic socialists-are

socialists. If socialism, regards exploitation as the consequence of uneven
distribution of social wealth, then all of them can, and in fact should have,
claim to be socialists. If socialism means justice for the worker, the poor,
the lowly, the downtrodden, then all are, indeed, socialists.11

1.5 Libertarian Justice : Hayek, Rawls and Nozick

The libertarian justice generally stands opposite to socialist view of

justice. It is individualistic and follows the notion of liberty. In economic
term, it demands : “no more redistribution”; in political terms, it asks for
a minimal state; in social terms, it admits the claims of inequality.
Prominent philosophers of libertarian justice are F.A. Hayek (The
Constitution of Liberty, 1960), John Rawls (A Theory of Justice, 1972)
and Robert Nozick (Anarchy, State and Utopia, 1974).

1.6 Rawls on Justice – A Redistributionist Plea for Justified

Inequality

One of the most interesting modern attempts to defend principles

of justice is found in John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice (1972), as now
reformulated in Political Liberalism (1993). One cannot think about
justice, one commentator observed, without talking a position in Rawls’s
Theory of Justice.12

In Political Liberalism, Rawls postulates a four-stage sequence

whereby the two principles of justice (‘liberty’ and ‘equality’) are
incorporated into the institutions and policies of a constitutional
democracy.

11
. Arora, N.D. & Awasthy, S.S., Political Theory, (New Delhi : Har-Anand
Publications, 1986 Edn.), p. 277.
12
. Freeman, M.D.A., Lloyod’s Introduction To Jurisprudence, (London : Sweet and
Maxwell Ltd., 2001, Seventh Edn.), p. 523.
 Page 10 of 37

The first stage is the “original position”, followed by constitutional,

legislative and judicial stages.

At the constitutional stage, the general structure of government and

the political process are embodied in the constitution. So are the equal
basic liberties of the first principle of justice. The second principle of
justice is not, however, on Rawls’s view, a constitutional sine qua non for
a constitutional democracy. It is his view that the history of successful
constitutions suggests that principles to regulate economic and social
inequalities, and other distributive principles, are generally not suitable as
constitutional restriction. Rawls is, of course, referring largely to the
American experience.

The second principle of justice is incorporated only at the

legislative stage, and then only insofar as it is accepted by citizens.
Rawls thus has a dualist conception of constitutional democracy, with
what the “People” will initially as a “higher law” than what subsequently
emanates from legislative bodies.

At the judicial stage, this dualism is protected by the courts, one

role of which is to protect the higher law against challenges and
encroachments by ordinary legislation. Rawls is thus committed to the
institutions of judicial review as a necessary feature of a constitutional
democracy.13

Though John Rawls has been generally characterized as libertarian

but his theory of justice significantly differs from others philosophers,
like Hayek and Nozick, of libertarian tradition. The publication of Rawls’
book : A Theory of Justice (1972) created a stir in the world of great

. Freeman, M.D.A., op. cit., pp. 526-527.

13
 Page 11 of 37

liberal theorists of the West who took it as an outstanding work on social

and political theory in the second half of the twentieth century.

The outstanding features of the Rawls’ theory is that here the

argument of utilitarianism as given by Bentham is apparently rejected but
really modified so as to be in harmony with the idealism of Kant. The
basic flaw of the theory of utilitarianism is that it threatens to oppress
some members of the society (e.g. even poorest, vulnerable, subaltern) in
the interest of the greatest good of the greatest number. Rawls, unlike
Hayek or Nozick, gives equal emphasis on ‘equality’ along with ‘liberty’.
His theory of justice is known as ‘distributive’ through which he wants to
provide ‘greatest benefit’ to the ‘least advantaged’.14

Rawls’ theory of justice has also been utilized for advancing the
goal of environmental justice under which the idea of distribution has
been a key element.

1.7 Subaltern and Feminist Theories of Justice

The dictionary meaning of subaltern is subordinate ‘lower in rank’,

particularly ‘below the rank of captain’. In social science, it would,
broadly speaking, mean an individual or a group standing lower in the
social pyramid: the poor, the lowly, the downtrodden, in short, the weaker
sections of society. In broad sense, subaltern would include the tillers, the
tribals, the agricultural labourers, the scavengers, the leather workers, in
Gandhiji’s terminology, ‘the Harijan’, the Dalits, the weakest of the weak.

It is interesting to note differences between the Marxian notion of

opposing classes at different stages of history and the subaltern
groupings. Whereas in the Marxian thesis, these antagonistic classes are

. Prof. Rawls reaches to this conclusion through his first and second principles of
14

justice. Rawls, John, A theory of Justice, op. cit., pp. 302-303

 Page 12 of 37

economically determined groups, in the subaltern connotation, the

groupings are socially and culturally determined as well.15

The feminist philosophy, including its political theory, speaks of

man’s domination of woman as a curse inflicted on her by a socially-
structured-male society. What is actually a natural sex-inequality is made
a social gender inequality. The base on which lies feminism is the idea of
equality. Feminism abhors inequality between man and woman, and
conversely demands equality as the very core of society. Because woman
is regarded unequal to man, she is made to suffer throughout her life: her
subordination, powerlessness and oppression are the consequences of
male dominance. Justice, in feminist perspective, demands escapism from
woman’s internalization of female gender, and the low self-esteem,
apathy and sense of helplessness that goes with it. The feminists do not
regard law to be neutral in disputes between man and woman; the idea of
justice is, by its very nature, male-structured. The feminist perspective on
justice means, among others, elimination of all male domination, equality
of rights, bridging the public and the private spheres, and creation of
society, culture and politics in new, rather non-patriarchal forms.16

2. Philosophical and Theoretical Framework of Environmental

Justice

The concept of environmental justice has been closely linked with

the new tide in global environmentalism. Concept of environmental
justice has emerged as a new version of justice and it has been linked, in
many ways, with the earlier versions of justice such as philosophical,
religious, ethical, social, economic and political justice.17
15
. Arora and Awasthy, op. cit., p. 289
16
. Ibid., pp. 290-91.
17
. For the academic writings relating to environmental justice, environmentalism and
environmental movements, See generally, Shastri, S.C.., Environmental Law
 Page 13 of 37

Hereinafter, we have attempted to present the theoretical

framework of environmental justice under the following two broader
heads.

2.1.2.1 Environment Justice Under Ancient Indian Tradition.

According to Professor O.P. Dwivedi, the relationship between

human beings and nature attracted the seers of the Vedic period in a
manner incomparable to any other religious and cultural traditions. The
Vedic seers acknowledged that the material causes of this creation
happened to be the Panch Mahabhutas (Five Great Elements);
traditionally they are enumerated in the following order as earth, air,
space, water and light-fire. These five Mahabhutas are cosmic elements
which create, nurture, and sustain all forms of life thus they play an
important role in preserving and sustaining the environment18.
(Lucknow : Eastern Book Company, First Edn. 2002); Martinez-Alier, Joan., The
Environmentalism of the Poor (New Delhi : Oxford University Press, First edn.
2005); Guha, Ramacandra (ed.)., Social Ecology (New Delhi : Oxford University
Press, 2001); Guha, Ramachandra., Environmentalism : A Global History (New Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 2000); Guha, Ramachandra and Martinez-Alier, Joan.,
Varieties of Environmentalism : Essays North and South (New Delhi : Oxford
Universities Press, 1998); Gadgil, Madhav and Guha Ramachandra., This Fissured
Land : An Ecological History of India, (New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1999);
Khoshoo, T.N., Gandhian Environmentalism: An Unfinished Task, 16(1) IASSI (1997)
01-16; Mishra, R.P., Indian Worldview and Environmental Crisis”, in Desh Bandhu et
al.,(ed.) Environmental Education For Sustainable Development, Indian International
Society, New Delhi (1994), 125-140; Gadgil, Madhav and Guha, Ramachandra,
Towards a Perspective on Environmental Movements in India, 59, Indian Journal of
Social Work (1998), 450-472; Andharia, Janaki and Sengupta, Chandan, The
Environmental Movement: Global Issues and the Indian Reality, 59, Indian Journal of
Social Work, (1998), 422-449; Bandyopadhyay, Jayanta and Shiva, Vandana, Political
Economy of Ecology Movements”, EPW, June 11, 1988, 1223-1232; Rao, Manisha,
“Ecofeminism, Environmentalism and Womens’ Movement in India: An Analysis”,
22, Man and Development (2000), 16 -31; Guha, Ramachandra, “Ideological Trends
in Indian Environmentalism”, EPW, December 03, 1988, 2578 -2581. Dasgupta,
Biplab, ‘The Environment Debate: Some Issues and Trends’, EPW, Annual Number,
February, 1978, 385-400.
18
. O.P. Dwivedi, ‘Classical India’ in Dale Jamieson (ed.). A Companion to
Environmental Philosophy, (Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc, 2001) 37 -51 at
38. See also, Dwivedi, O.P. and Tiwari, B.N., Environmental Crisis and Hindu
Religion (New Delhi: Gitanjali Publishing House, 1987), Discussion under the title
 Page 14 of 37

The Atharva Veda (about 2000 BC) is perhaps the first of its kind
of scripture in any spiritual tradition where the respect to the earth has
been propounded. The Prithvi Sukta maintains that attributes of earth
(such as its firmness, purity and fertility) are for everyone, and no one
group or nation has special authority over them. It has been said that
human greed and exploitative tendencies have been the main cause of
environmental destruction.

According to Hindu scriptures, people must not demand or

command domination over other creatures. Eco-spirituality and eco-care
require that the entire universe is seen as an extended family, with all
living beings in this universe as members of the household. This concept,
also known as Vasudhav Kutumbakam (Vasudha means earth; Kutumba
means extended family), refers to all human beings as well as other
creatures living on earth as members of the same extended family. Only
by considering the entire universe as a part of our extended family, we
can (individually and collectively) develop the necessary maturity and
respect for all other living beings.

From the above discussion, it may be said that people of India have
a rich religious, social and cultural heritage of environmental justice.
However, it is an irony that despite of this rich heritage India has been
considered as one of most polluted nation. It appears that we the people
of India have forgotten their rich ancient religious, ethical and cultural
environmental traditions. Similarly we have not performed our duties
relating to the environment as envisaged in the Constitution of India.
Consequently, our natural as well as human environment have been badly

“Environmental Policy During Ancient India” in Singh, Sukh Pal, Environmental Law
and Policy on Air Pollution in India, (New Delhi : Satyam Book, 2005, First Edn.) pp.
01-08.
 Page 15 of 37

polluted and degraded and we have also experienced one of the worst
industrial disaster known as Bhopal mass disaster.

2.2 Environment Justice Under Modern Environmental

Movements/Tradition

Global environmentalism arises from social conflicts on

environmental entitlements, on the burden of pollution, on the sharing of
uncertain environmental risks and on the loss of access to natural
resources and environmental services. The modern or contemporary
global environmental movements, which have given birth to the different
versions of environmental justice, grow in reaction to economic growth.
Different versions of environmental justice are result of different clusters
of environmental movements. These environmental movements have
different level of relationship with environmental sciences, feminism,
state power, religion, business interests, and other social movements.
Prof. Joan Martinez-Alier separates three main intertwined clusters in
environmental movement.19 The ‘cult of wilderness’, ‘the gospel of eco-
efficiency’ and the ‘environmentalism of the poor’, which are as channels
of a single river, branches of a big tree, or varieties of the same crop.
Hereinafter, effort has been made to present the main currents of
environmentalism or main clusters in the environmental movement.

2.2.1 The Cult of Wilderness20

Chronologically, the first current is the defence of immaculate
nature, the love of old-growth forests and wild rivers, the ‘cult of
wilderness’ represented already a hundred years ago by John Muir and
the Sierra Club in the United States. Some 50 years ago, Aldo Leopold’s
Land Ethic appealed not only to the beauty of the environment but also to

19
. Martinez-Alier, Joan, The Environmentalism of the Poor – A Study of Ecological
Conflicts and Valuation, (New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2005, First Indian
Edn.) p. 1.
20
. Ibid., pp. 01-05.
 Page 16 of 37

the science of ecology. The ‘cult of wilderness’ does not attack economic
growth as such, it concedes defeat in most of the industrial world, but it
fights a ‘rearguard action’ (Leopold’s phrase) in order to preserve the
remnants of pristine natural space outside the market. 21 It arises from the
love of beautiful landscapes and from deeply held values, not from
material interests. Conservation biology, as it has developed since the
1960s, provides scientific support for this first current of
environmentalism. Among its achievements are the Biodiversity
Convention in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and the remarkable Endangered
Species Act in the USA, whose rhetoric appeals to utilitarian values but
which sets a clear priority for preservation over market use. We need not
answer or even ask here how the step from descriptive biology to
normative conservation is taken, or in other words, whether it would not
be consistent for biologists to let evolution run its course towards a sixth
great extinction of biodiversity. In any case, conservation biologists have
concepts and theories of biodiversity (hot spots, keystone species) which
show that the loss of biodiversity proceeds by leaps and bonds. Indicators
of human pressure on the environment such as HANPP (human
appropriation of net primary production of biomass- show that less and
less biomass is available for species other than humans and those
associated with humans. If not scientific reasons, there are other motives
to preserve nature, aesthetic and religious, even utilitarian (future edible
species, future medicines). Moreover, some argue that other species have
a right to exist: we have no right to annihilate them. This current of
environmentalism sometimes appeals to religion as so often happens in
the political culture of the United States. It may appeal to pantheism or to
oriental religions less anthropocentric than Christianity and Judaism.
Over the last 30 years the ‘cult of wilderness’ has been represented at the
activist level by the ‘deep ecology’ movement which favours a
. Or, rather, outside the industrializing economy, one should say, because nature
21

protection in the form of a network of scientific nature reserves.

 Page 17 of 37

‘biocentric’ attitude to Nature in opposition to an anthropocentric

‘shallow’ attitude. Deep ecologists dislike agriculture, whether traditional
or modern, because agriculture has historically grown at the expense of
wildlife. The main policy proposal coming out of this first current of
environmentalism consists in keeping nature reserves, called ‘national
parks’ or something similar, free from human interference.
2.2.2 The Gospel of Eco-Efficiency22
The currents of environmentalism are indeed intermingled, but the
first current, the ‘cult of wilderness’, has long been challenged by a
second current, worried about the effects of economic growth not only
on pristine areas but also on the industrial, agricultural and urban
economy, a current here baptized as the ‘gospel of eco-efficiency’, which
focuses on the environmental and health impacts of industrial activities
and urbanization, and also of modern agriculture. This second current of
the environmental movement is concerned about the whole economy. It
often defends economic growth, though not at any cost. It believes in
‘sustainable development’, in ‘ecological modernization’, in the ‘wise
use’ of resources. It is concerned with the impacts of the production of
commodities, and with the sustainable management of natural resources,
and not so much with the loss of natural amenities or the loss of the
intrinsic values of nature. Representatives of this second current scarcely
use the word ‘nature’; rather, they use ‘natural resources’ or even ‘natural
capital’ or ‘environmental services’.
Ecology thus becomes a managerial science mopping up the
ecological degradation after industrialization. Chemical engineers are
especially active in this current. Biotechnologists tried to jump into it
with promises of engineered seeds which will dispense with pesticides
and will perhaps synthetize atmospheric nitrogen, though they have
encountered public alarm at genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
. Martinez-Alier, Joan, op. cit., pp. 05-10.
22
 Page 18 of 37

2.2.3 Environmental Justice and the Environmentalism of the Poor23

Both the aforesaid first and second currents of environmentalism
are nowadays challenged by a third current, variously called the
environmentalism of the poor, popular environmentalism and the
environmental justice movement. It has also been appropriately called
livelihood ecology, even liberation ecology. This third current of
environmentalism points out that economic growth unfortunately means
increased environmental impacts, and it emphasizes geographical
displacement of sources and sinks. Thus the industrial countries are
dependent on imports from the south for a growing part of their growing
requirements of raw materials or consumption goods, so that the oil and
gas frontier, the aluminum frontier, the copper frontier, the eucalyptus
and palm oil frontiers, the shrimp frontier the gold frontier, the transgenic
soybeans frontier…are advancing into new territories.
The main thrust of this third current is not a sacred reverence for
Nature but a material interest in the environment as a source and a
requirement for livelihood; not so much a concern with the rights of other
species and of future generations of humans as a concern for today’s poor
humans. It has not the same ethical (and aesthetic) foundations of the cult
of wilderness. Its ethics derive from a demand for contemporary social
justice among humans.
The environmental justice movement in the United States is an
organized social movement against local instances of ‘environmental
racism’. It has strong links to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. One
could say that, even more than the cult of wilderness, this movement for
environmental justice is a product of the American mind so obsessed with
racism and anti-racism. ‘Grass-roots projects in inner cities and industrial
areas around the country have drawn attention to urban air pollution, lead

. Martinez-Alier, Joan, op. cit., pp. 10-14.

23
 Page 19 of 37

paint, transfer stations for municipal garbage and hazardous waste, and
other environmental dangers that cluster in poor and minority
neighborhoods’. So far, environmental justice as an organized movement
has been almost confined to its country of origin, while popular
environmentalism or livelihood ecology or the environmentalism of the
poor are names given to the myriad of movements in the Third World that
struggle against environmental impacts that threaten poor people who are
in many countries a majority of the population. These include movements
of peasants whose crops or pasture land have been destroyed by mines or
quarries, movements of artisanal fishermen against modern high-tech
trawlers or other forms of industrial fishing that destroy their livelihood
even as they deplete the fish stocks, and movements against mines or
factories by communities damaged by air pollution or living downstream.
This third current receives academic support from agroecology,
ethnoecology, political ecology and to some extent, from urban ecology
and ecological economics. It has also been supported by some
environmental sociologists.
The convergence between the rural third World notion of the
environmentalism of the poor, and the urban notion of environmental
justice as used in the USA, was suggested by Guha and Martinez-Alier. 24
Prof. Martinez-Alier compared the environmental justice movement in
the USA and the more diffuse environmentalism of the poor worldwide,
in order to show that they can be understood as one single current. He
points out that in the USA, a book on the environmental justice
movement could well carry the title or subtitle ‘The environmentalism of
the poor and the minorities’, because this movement fights for minority

. See, Guha, Ramachandra and Martinez-Alier, Joan, Varieties of Environmentalism,

24

(New Delhi : OUP, 1998, First Indian Edn.) Chapter 1 “The Environmentalism of the
Poor” (pp. 03-21), Chapter 2 “From Political Economy to Political Ecology (pp. 22-
45).
 Page 20 of 37

groups and against environmental racism in the USA, but the notion of
“the Environmentalism of the Poor” is concerned with the majority of
humankind, those who occupy relatively little environmental space, who
have managed sustainable agroforestal and agricultural systems, who
make prudent use of carbon sinks and reservoirs, whose livelihoods are
threatened by mines, oil wells, dams, deforestation and tree plantations to
feed the increasing throughput of energy and materials of the economy
within or outside their own countries.
According to Prof. Martinez-Alier what minorities and majorities
are depends on context. The USA has a growing population which
represents less than 5 per cent of the world’s population. Of the
population of the USA, ‘minorities’ comprise about one-third. In the
world at large, the majority of countries, which together are the majority
of humankind, have populations which in the US context would be
classified as belonging to minorities. The Chipko movement, or the Chico
Mendes struggle in the 1970s and 1980s, were environmental justice
conflicts, but it is not necessary or useful to interpret them in terms of
environmental racism. The environmental justice movement is potentially
of great importance, provided it learns to speak not only for the minorities
inside the USA but also for the majorities outside the USA (which locally
are not always defined racially) and provided it gets involved in issues
such as biopiracy and biosafety, or climate change, beyond local instances
of pollution. The civil rights heritage of the environmental justice
movement of the USA is also useful worldwide because of its
contributions to non-violent Gandhian forms of struggle.
2.2.4 Environmental Justice – Criticisms and Responses
It has been stated in our foregoing discussion that the
environmental movements have been concerned with purely ecological
issues including wilderness preservation, endangered species,
 Page 21 of 37

overpopulation, recycling and energy consumption. The environmental

justice movement is seen by some as an attempt to shift the focus of the
environmental movement away from these issues toward more
anthropocentric concerns such as racism, classism, and sexism since these
forms of oppression lead to unequal burdens of environmental pollution
being felt by people of color, women and low-income people. However, it
should be noted that the Principles of Environmental Justice adopted at
the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in
1991 suggest that environmental justice is not solely concerned with
anthropocentric issues since several principles stress the ecological
interconnectedness of all species, including human.
3. Relationship between Mainstream Environmental Movement
(Sustainability Movement) and Environmental Justice
Movement (Social Justice Movement in Environment)
Prof. Andrew Dobson in his pioneering work entitled Environment
and Justice (1998) has studied the aforesaid relationship between the two
25
environmental movements and presents six conclusions /theses which
may be summarized as under :
First Thesis : First Thesis concludes that ‘sustainability’ and ‘justice’
may be related in three fundamental ways :
(i) The environment as something to be distributed
(ii) Justice as functional for sustainability (poverty eradication is pre-
condition for sustainability, Brundtland Report 1987)
(iii) Justice to the environment (here ‘environment’ is a ‘recipient’
rather as an ‘ingredient’ in doing justice.)

Second Thesis : Second thesis concludes that neither environmental

sustainability nor social justice has determinate meanings, and this opens
the way to legitimizing the pursuit of either of them, in terms of the other,
in a number of ways, by tweaking or by making fine adjustments strategy.

. Dobson, Andrew, Environment and Justice, (UK : OUP, 1998) pp. 240-262
25
 Page 22 of 37

Third Thesis : Third thesis concludes that the concerns of the

environmental movement and movements for social justice are
fundamentally different as far as the ‘natural’ environment is concerned,
although they may sometimes coincide.

Fourth Thesis : Fourth thesis concludes that the question of whether

sustainability and justice are compatible objective can only be resolved
empirically, and the range and depth of empirical research required to
resolve this question has not been done. Relationship is a complex one
and it is therefore unwise to make determinate claims about them. Any
statement regarding the relationship between them needs to be prefaced
by an explanation of what type of social justice and what kind of
environmental sustainability is under considerations. Empirical work, on
relationship, is thin on the ground and such work would provide more
solid intellectual foundation to sustainable development. We do not know
enough to be able to say whether justice is or is not, a necessary and/or a
sufficient condition for environmental sustainability.

It may be a necessary condition, but only under certain

circumstances yet to be systemically explored, and it is Prof. Dobson’s
feeling that it is unlikely to be a sufficient condition since sustainability
questions are about more than justice. In this context, Prof. Brain Barry’s
prediction that ‘whatever redistribution among contemporaries is required
by justice will also be observe the constraints that the interests of future
generations be protected’ will be true if the goods redistributed are ‘spent’
on sustainable practice.

Fifth Thesis : Fifth thesis concludes that no theory of justice can

henceforth be regarded as complete if it does not take into account the
 Page 23 of 37

possibility of extending the community of justice beyond the realm of

present generation human beings.

- Idea of environmental sustainability acquires its greatest resonance

is the context of future generations.
- The environmental movement has also brought the non-human
natural world into the political frame.

In the light of aforesaid conclusions Prof. Andrew Dobson suggests

that in sum, theories of justice should henceforth entertain an in-principle
triangular conception of the community of justice, with present
generation humans, future generation humans and non human natural
world at each of the vertices of a triangle.26

Sixth Thesis : Sixth thesis concludes that liberal theories of justice are
broadly compatible with the most common conception of environmental
sustainability.

4. Historical Perspective of the Environmental Justice Movements

Under this head we have made an effort to briefly present history

of the evolution and growth of the concept of environmental justice and
related environmental movements in USA27 and India28. Just three
26
. Dobson, Andrew, op. cit., p. 245
27
. For historical perspective of Environment Justice in the American context. See
generally, Bullard, Robert D., “Environmental Justice in the 21st Century”,
(http://ejrc.cau.edu/ej in the 21 century.htm), pp. 01-20 at 01-03. Environmental
Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University, USA, Retrived on 04-09-2007.
Dobson, Andrew, Justice and the Environment (UK: OUP, 1998) pp. 17-29;
Environmental Justice at Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_justicep.2 of 5, visited on 5/6/2007, Yang,
Tseming, “Melding Civil Rights And Environmentalism : Finding Environmental
Justice’s Place in Environmental Regulation”, 26 Harward Environmental Law
Review (2002) 1 at 04-08.
28
. For Indian historical perspective of Environment Justice; See generally, Guha,
Ramchandra (ed.), Social Ecology, (New Delhi : OUP, 1995) pp. 01-14, Guha,
Ramchandra and Martinez-Alier, Joan, Varieties of Environmentalism (New Delhi :
OUP 1998, First Indian Edn.) pp. 03-21, Guha, Ramchandra, Environmentalism – A
Global History (New Delhi : OUP, 2000) pp. 98-124; Martinez-Alier, Joan, The
 Page 24 of 37

decades ago, the concept of environment justice had not registered on the
radar screens of environmental, civil rights or social justice groups.

According to Robert D. Bullard, who is also considered as father of

environmental justice movement in USA, in USA a landmark garbage
dispute took place in Houston, when African American homeowners in
1979 began a bitter fight to keep a sanitary landfill out of their suburban
middle-income neighborhood.29 Residents formed the Northeast
Community Action Group or NECAG. NECAG and their attorney, Linda
McKeever Bullard, filed a class action lawsuit to block the facility from
being built. The 1979 lawsuit, Bean v. southwestern Waste management,
Inc., was the first of its kind to challenge the siting of a waste facility
under civil rights law.

It has been suggested that the idea of Environmental Justice was

birthed during the struggle beginning in 1982 around the American
Warren County PCB Landfill.The landmark Houston case occurred three
years before the environmental justice movement was catapulated into the
national limelight in the rural and mostly African American Warren
County, North Carolina. The environmental jutice movement has come a
long way since its humble beginning in Warren County, North Carolina
where a PCB landfill ignited protests and over 500 arrests. The Warren
County protests provided the impetus for an U.S. General Accounting
office study, Sitting of Hazardous Waste Landfills and Their Correlation
with Racial and Economic Status of Surrounding Communities. That
study revealed that three out of four of the off-site, commercial hazardous
waste landfills in Region 4 (which comprises eight states in the south)
happen to be located in predominantly African-American communities,
Environmentalism of the Poor (New Delhi : OUP, 2005, First Indian Edn.) pp. 12-13.
29
. This account of the history of environmental justice movement in USA has been
mainly adopted from Bullard, Robert, D., op. cit., pp. 01-02.
 Page 25 of 37

although African-Americans made up only 20% of the region’s

population. More important, the protesters put “environmental racism” on
the map. Fifteen years later, the state of North Carolina is required to
spend over $25 million to cleanup and detoxify the Warren County PCB
landfill.

The Warren Country protests also led the Commission for Racial
Justice to produce the first national study namely Toxic Waste and Race,
to correlate waste facility sites and demographic characteristics. Race was
found to be the most potent variable in predicting where these facilities
were located – more powerful than poverty, land values, and home
ownership. In 1990, Dumping in Dixie : Race, Class, and Environmental
Quality chronicled the convergence of two social movements – social
justice and environmental movements – into the environmental justice
movement. This book highlighted African Americans environmental
activism in the South, the same region that gave birth to the modern civil
rights movement. What started out as local and often isolated community-
based struggles against toxics and facility sitting blossomed into a multi-
issue, multi-ethnic, and multi-regional movement.

The 1991 First National People of Color Environmental Leadership

Summit (also called Summit I) was probably the most important single
event in the movement’s history. The Summit broadened the
environmental justice movement beyond its early anti-toxics focus to
include issues of public health, worker safety, land use, transportation,
housing, resource allocation, and community empowerment. The meeting
also demonstrated that it is possible to build a multi-racial grassroots
movement around environmental and economic justice.
 Page 26 of 37

Held in Washington, DC, the four-day Summit was attended by

over 650 grassroots and national leaders from around the world. People
attended the Summit to share their action strategies, redefine the
environmental movement, and develop common plans for addressing
environmental problems affecting people of color in the United States and
around the world.

On September 27, 1991, Summit delegates adopted 17 “Principles

of Environmental Justice”. These principles were developed as a guide
for organizing, networking, and relating to government and
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

In response to growing public concern and mounting scientific

evidence, President Clinton on February 11, 1994 (the second day of the
national health symposium) issued Executive Order30 12898, “Federal
Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and
Low-Income Populations”. This order attempts to address environmental
injustice within existing federal laws and regulations.

Executive Order 12898 reinforces the 35-year old Civil rights Act
of 1964, Title VI, which prohibits discriminatory practices in programs
receiving federal funds. The order also focuses the spotlight back on the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a twenty-five year old law
that set policy goals for the protection, maintenance, and enhancement of
the environment. NEPA’s goal is to ensure for all Americans a safe,
healthful, productive, and aesthetically and culturally pleasing
environment. NEPA requires federal agencies to prepare a detailed

. For the text of Executive Order, See, <http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/execordr. html>.

30

Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. Pp. 01-05.

Retrived on 04-09-2007.
 Page 27 of 37

statement on the environmental effects of proposed federal actions that

significantly effect the quality of human health.

The Second National People of Color Environmental Leadership

Summit (also called Summit II) occurred October 23-26, 2002 also in
Washington.

5. Definition and Principles of the Environmental Justice

The term ‘environmental justice’ consists of the two word

‘environment’ and ‘justice’. Academic scholars and activists of
environmental justice have demonstrated that the definition, contents and
scope of the term environmental justice ultimately depends on the fact
that how one defines the terms ‘environment’ and ‘justice’. In our earlier
discussion on justice we have stated that the term ‘justice’ is a protean or
versatile concept and therefore there has been various theories of justice.
Similarly term ‘environment’ has also been seen in narrow and broader
way. In its narrow perspective ‘environment’ has been confined to
technical definition which includes natural and man made environment.
One the other hand it its broader perspective ‘environment’ has been co-
related to social, political and economic factors. This broader concept of
environment has also been highlighted by the Report of the World
Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), 1987 published
as Our Common Future. This Report co-relates socio-economic factors
such as poverty, economics and trade etc. with the environment. 31

. The WCED Report, 1987, has highlighted the growing contemporary tensions
31

between development and environment. It, therefore, highlighted the need for
‘sustainable development’ which has now become a buzz word in contemporary
academic debate.
 Page 28 of 37

Hereinafter we have attempted to present the various view points relating

to definition and principles of the environmental justice.

5.1 Definition of Environmental Justice

In USA there has been two definitions of environmental justice,

one given by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) known as
official definition and second definition given by activists of
environmental justice which is considered as broader or holistic or radical
in nature.

EPA’s Definition of Environmental Justice :

It utilized the term “environmental equity” instead of

“environmental justice” and singularly focused on the distribution of
pollution harm and risk – measurable and quantifiable risk instead of
giving proper weight to ‘qualitative factors’ (socio-economic factors
considered as beyond the scope of this EPA’s Report of 1992). However,
subsequently EPA now has changed this analytical approach and has
moved closer to activists’ approach.32

Environmental Justice Activists’ Definition of the Environmental

Justice :
To activists, environment justice is a much more holistic concept
that include the right to a safe, healthy, productive and sustainable
environment for all. In this context, the “environment” is considered to
include the ecological, physical, social, political, aesthetic, and economic
environments. Environmental Justice thus refers to the conditions in
which such a right can be freely exercised, whereby individual and group
identities, needs, and dignities are preserved, fulfilled, and respected in a

. Yang, Tseming, “Melding Civil Rights And Environmentalism : Finding

32

Environmental Justice’s Place in Environmental Regulation”, 26 Harvard

Environmental Law Review, (2002) 1 at 04-08.
 Page 29 of 37

way that provides for self actualization and personal and community
empowerment.33
Prof. Sheila Foster has also analysed the controversy relating to the
definition of environment justice.34 She says, “though neither uniformly
nor precisely defined, environment justice is widely understood to be
concerned, at the least, with distributional and procedural equity in
environmental and natural resource decisions.35 Prof. Foster also quoted
the broader definition advocated by the scholar cum environmental
justice activist Rober D. Bullard, who defines the environment justice as
under :
“Call for environment justice involve multifaceted claims,
ultimately synthesizing aspirations for distributional and
procedural equality, political accountability, and social justice
into an untidy theoretical framework.36
Participants of Central and Eastern European Workshop on
Environmental Justice (Budapest, December 2003) defined
environmental justice (and injustice) in the following way37 :

Environmental Justice

A condition of environmental justice exists when environmental

risks and hazards and investments and benefits are equally
distributed with a lack of discrimination, whether direct or
indirect, at any jurisdictional level; and when access to
environmental investments, benefits, and natural resources are
equally distributed; and when access to information,

33
. Id.
34
. Foster, Sheila, “Environmental Justice in an Era of Devolved Collaboration” 26
Harvard Environmental Law Review (2002), 459-498.
35
. Ibid., p. 461
36
. Bullard, Robert D., “Environmental Justice for All” in Robert D. Bullard (ed.),
Unequal Protection :Environmental Justice and Communities of Color, 1994, 3, at 10-
11, quoted in Foster, Sheila, op. cit., note 9 at p. 461.
37
. See, Environmental Justice at Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Environmental_justice pp.1 of 5, visited on 5/6/2007
 Page 30 of 37

participation in decision making, and access to justice in

environment-related matters are enjoyed by all”.

Environmental Injustice

“An environmental injustice exists when members of

disadvantaged, poor, ethnic, minority or other groups suffer
disproportionately at the local, regional (sub-national), or
national levels from environmental risks or hazards, and/or
suffer disproportionately from violations of fundamental human
rights as a result of environmental factors, and/or denied access
to environmental investments, benefits, and/or natural
resources, and/or are denied access to information; and/or
participation in decision making; and/or access to justice in
environment related matters”.

5.2 Principles of Environmental Justice

The following 17 principles were adopted by delegates of the First

National People of Color Environmental Justice Summit in 1991. These
principles were developed to serve as a “guide for organizing,
networking, and relating to government and nongovernmental
organizations.38

1. Environmental Justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth,

ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the
right to be free from ecological destruction.
2. Environmental Justice demands that public policy be based on
mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of
discrimination or bias.

. Supra note 37., pp.2-3

38
 Page 31 of 37

3. Environmental Justice mandates the right to ethical, balanced and

responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of
a sustainable planet for humans and other living things.
4. Environmental Justice calls for universal protection from nuclear
testing, extraction, production and disposal of toxic/hazardous
wastes and poisons and nuclear testing that threaten the
fundamental right to clean air, land, water, and food.
5. Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental right to political,
economic, cultural and environmental self-determination of all
peoples.
6. Environmental Justice demands the cessation of the production of
all toxins, hazardous wastes, and radioactive materials, and that all
past and current producers be held strictly accountable to the
people for detoxification and the containment at the point of
production.
7. Environmental Justice demands the right to participate as equal
partners at every level of decision-making, including needs
assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation.
8. Environmental Justice affirms the right of all workers to a safe and
healthy work environment without being forced to choose between
an unsafe livelihood and unemployment. It also affirms the right of
those who work at home to be free from environmental hazards.
9. Environmental Justice protects the right of victims of
environmental injustice to receive full compensation and
reparations for damages as well as quality health care.
10. Environmental Justice considers governmental acts of
environmental injustice a violation of international law, the
Universal Declaration On Human Rights, and the United Nations
Convention on Genocide.
11. Environmental Justice must recognize a special legal and natural
relationship of Native Peoples to the U.S. government through
 Page 32 of 37

treaties, agreements, compacts and covenants affirming sovereignty

and self-determination.
12. Environmental Justice affirms the need for urban and rural
ecological policies to clean up and rebuild our cities and rural areas
in balance with nature, honoring the cultural integrity of all our
communities, and provided fair access for all to the full range of
resources.
13. Environmental Justice calls for the strict enforcement of principles
of informed consent, and a halt to the testing of experimental
reproductive and medical procedures and vaccinations on people of
color.
14. Environmental Justice opposes the destructive operations of multi-
national corporations.
15. Environmental Justice opposes military occupation, repression and
exploitation of lands, peoples and cultures, and other life forms.
16. Environmental Justice calls for the education of present and future
generations which emphasizes social and environmental issues,
based on our experience and an appreciation of our diverse cultural
perspectives.
17. Environmental Justice requires that we, as individuals, make
personal and consumer choices to consume as little of Mother
Earth’s resources and to produce as little waste as possible; and
make the conscious decision to challenge and reprioritize our
lifestyles to ensure the health of the natural world for present and
future generations.

Bhopal Mass Disaster and Environmental Justice

Professor J.M. Alier in his book, The Environmentalism of the

Poor, has also discussed the issues relating to Bhopal disaster as part of
 Page 33 of 37

the ongoing movement for environmental justice 39. The Bhopal tragedy
put many issues on the table. These are trends in the environmental
indicators of unsustainability; there are also surprises in the relation
between economy and environment. The Bhopal raises questions: What
are the values of human lives and in which metrics should they be
expressed? The Bhopal mass disaster links the environmental justice with
the value of human lives.

The Bhopal disaster provides opportunity to understand few

important aspects of justice such as : Access to justice, Distributive
Justice and Environmental Justice.

Bhopal disaster carries special meaning for India. It has been

proved a turning point for India’s environmental law and policy. In fact
the history of Indian environmental law and policy may be divided into
pre and post Bhopal period. The Bhopal disaster was the second most
important factor after the Stockholm Conference which has influenced
environmental law and policy in India. Analysis of pre Bhopal scenario
suggests that the Bhopal was bound to happen and law and administration
were not prepared to face challenges of Bhopal. The human consequences
of Bhopal disaster shook the Indian policy makers. It was realized that
despite the existence of 50 pieces of legislation 30 of them on pollution
alone – the country was not safe from environmental disasters. 40 After
Bhopal, India found herself unprepared and tragic experiences of Bhopal
brought a new activism on part of executive, legislature and judiciary.
This post Bhopal activism resulted into creation of a full fledged Ministry
39
See, discussion under the head “A Proclaimed Absconder”, J.M. Alier, (2005), op.
cit. pp. 246 -251.
40
. O.P. Dwivedi, India’s Environmental Policies, Programmes and Stewardship
(London, Macmillan Press Ltd, 1997) p. 89. This work of Professor Dwivedi has
been one of the most important analysis of India’s political, economic and legal
policies and programmes relating to environment.
 Page 34 of 37

of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in January 1985, at the federal level

manned by a senior minister with the rank of cabinet minister. In order to
regulate hazardous industries and chemicals, an umbrella legislation
having sweeping powers, known as the Environment (Protection) Act,
1986 was enacted. After Bhopal the Indian government also framed two
comprehensive environment policies namely Policy Statement for
Abatement of Pollution (Feb. 1992) and National Conservation Strategy
and Policy Statement on Environment and Development (June 1992). The
Indian judiciary led by the Supreme Court of India also started new era
of environmental justice.

The judicial handling of Bhopal litigation. Legal issues of the

Bhopal have been as complex as the Bhopal crisis itself. The discipline of
law itself has been considered as technical, difficult and complex. But
complexity of the Bhopal legal issues constitutes a class in itself. Bhopal
legal issues relate, firstly, to Indian and U.S. legal regimes and secondly,
to international law. Many branches of law add their complexity in
Bhopal. The legal mystery of Bhopal can not be understood unless we
understand various dimensions of the issues such as :

 Problem of regulating the multinational corporations (MNCs)

under national and international law.

 Problem of proper judicial forum and application of doctrine of

forum non conveniens by the U.S. Courts.

 Regulation of hazardous industries, chemicals and wastes.

 Problem to provide compensatory justice in a mass tort suit like

Bhopal.
 Page 35 of 37

 Constitutional validity of a legislation which makes Central

Government parens patriae of the victims totally excluding victims
to participate in their own case.

 Constitutional validity of a settlement arrived between accused

MNC and Indian government without proper representation of the
victims.

 Problems of a third world court to decide a complex mass tort suit

like Bhopal having no precedent on many legal issues relating to
liability and compensation.

 General professional incapacities on part of the judges, lawyers and

other stake-holders of Bhopal litigation.

 Problem of delay both in civil and criminal litigations which

resulted very delayed compensation and other relief to the victims.

 Problem of enforcement of a decree against a MNC of a super

power country like U.S. issued by a third world court of India.

 Problem of extradition of Chief Executive Officer of a MNC from

U.S. to India.

 Legal aspects relating to distribution of settlement amount among

the five lakhs claimers.

 Legal issues relating to medical treatment of the victims and its

administrations.

 Legal issues relating to post disaster toxic contamination of

Carbide’s factory site at Bhopal which required clean-up operation
and compensating the victims of contamination.
 Page 36 of 37

There was problem to access to environmental justice in Bhopal

litigation. Victims’ main problem was to search proper judicial forum.
This search led the victims to knock the door of the U.S. courts which
refused to entertain the victims’ suit by applying the doctrine of forum
non conveniens. This doctrine has potential to deny environmental justice
to the victims of Bhopal and similarly situated other victims in their
struggle against multinationals of the first world. The problem of access
to environmental justice also relates to doctrine of parens patriae which
was used by the central government in India. The second problem of
access to environmental justice relates to violation of natural justice.

The goal of criminal justice is achieved through criminal liability

litigation. The Bhopal disaster litigation has also raised the issues relating
to administration of justice in general and corporate crimes in particular.
The inadequacy of the administration of criminal justice has not been able
to ensure corporate accountability in India. The criminal liability aspect
of Bhopal litigation has also demonstrated that the present international
law is also inadequate and the ‘soft’ law norms have not only failed to
prevent corporate crimes but also have not been able to provide criminal
justice to the victims.

The principles of strict and absolute liability have generated

controversy during entire Bhopal litigation. The compensatory justice is
one of the important aspects of the justice. The objective of the civil
litigation is to provide compensatory justice to the victims. The search for
compensatory justice compelled the Government of India to knock the
doors of the U.S. Courts. An adequate judicial forum is sine qua non to
achieve the goal of compensatory justice. At the Supreme Court level
there have been attempts to provide compensatory justice. The Supreme
Court approved and justified the Bhopal settlement to secure the
 Page 37 of 37

“immediate relief” to the victims. The Bhopal settlement order has been
proved as one of the most controversial and much criticized judicial
exercise. The Supreme Court in its Review judgment conceded the
inadequacy of the settlement exercise. Consequently it ordered for
medical group insurance for the future contingencies. The Court, on
humanitarian ground, asked the UCC to construct a hospital for
specialized treatment of the Bhopal victims.

The problem of delay has played a decisive role in Bhopal disaster

litigation and it not only defeated the environmental justice but practically
killed it. During litigation the delay factor was used as trump card by the
UCC. It filed large number of interlocutory applications and filed appeals,
revisions, and review petitions against the judicial orders and maximized
the potential of delay.

The long history of complex Bhopal disaster litigation has exposed

the ‘incapacity’ of national and international legal order to provide
environmental justice to the victims of a man–made industrial disaster.
We may conclude this discussion by saying that the concept of
environmental justice should find recognition and acceptance both at
national and international levels and should be used to force the economy
into ecological adjustment and social justice.